The present invention relates to fishing reels, and more particularly to a device for applying a brake force to a spool shaft of a fishing spinning reel and releasing the applied brake force from the spool shaft, so as to freely rotate the spool shaft.
An example of spinning reel equipped with such spool braking/releasing device has been disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. Sho 61-274638. In this patent, the spool braking/releasing device comprises a drag mechanism adapted to apply a resistance force to a spool during the rotation of the spool, a brake mechanism adapted to apply a brake force to a shaft of the spool, so as to prevent the rotation of the spool shaft, an actuating mechanism adapted to selectively operate the brake mechanism, and a mechanism adapted to return the spool shaft which has been maintained at its braking position, by the braking mechanism, to its releasing position.
In this spool braking/releasing device, braking of the spool shaft by the brake mechanism is released in reeling out the fishing line, according to the operation of actuating mechanism, so as to freely rotate the spool shaft. As a result, when a fish takes a bite, the resistance against unwinding of the fishing line can be minimized. In the device, when the fish is caught on a hook, the spool shaft being in its free rotation state is automatically shifted from its released position to braked position by the manipulation of the handle. Accordingly, there is an advantage of avoiding a backlash phenomenon that the fishing is wound in over the spool reversely.
In such conventional spool braking/releasing device, however, when a fish is caught on a hook cast from the spool under the free rotation condition of the spool shaft, the fisherman rotates the handle provided at one side of the reel body so that the return mechanism is operated by the rotation of a drive gear operatively connected to the handle. According to the operation of the return mechanism, the braking mechanism is shifted to its braking position, so as to brake the rotation of spool shaft.
In the case that the fish is caught on the hook, therefore, a braking force should be applied to the spool shaft by rotating rapidly the handle, so as to prevent the spool shaft from being rotated. If the manipulation of handle is delayed, there is a problem that the fish caught on the hook can not be easily captured, because it can take a time for hiding in waterweed or rock gap. Also, when the handle is rotated during rapid escaping of the caught fish, a sudden braking force is applied to the spool rotating in the direction of unwinding the fishing line. As a result, the fishing line may break due to an excessive tension applied thereto. Otherwisely, the mouth portion of the fish caught on the hook may be separated.
Generally, when the fish taking a bite escapes suddenly, the fisherman does not manipulate the handle, but strikes the fishing rod unconsciously, thereby occurring a severe backlash of the spool.
Due to the above-mentioned problems, in the case of a spinning reel equipped with the conventional spool braking/releasing mechanism, the handle should be manipulated rapidly as soon as a fish is caught on the hook, so as to brake the rotation of the spool shaft. Even during winding in the fishing line, the braking mechanism should be shifted from its braking position to its releasing position, depending on the fishing condition. Otherwisely, the frictional resistance applied to the spool by the drag mechanism should be frequently adjusted. Consequently, the conventional spool braking/releasing mechanism having the above-mentioned construction has a problem that it can not rapidly deal with an urgent situation.
That is, if the braking mechanism has to be shifted to its braking position, so as to apply a braking force to the spool shaft, the fisherman should grip the fishing rod with one hand and rotate the handle provided at one side of the reel body with the other hand. On the other hand, in the case of shifting the braking mechanism from its braking position to its releasing position, the fisherman should manipulate the actuating lever of actuating mechanism connected to the rear end of reel body, in the same manner. However, even a skilled fisherman can not rapidly and easily manipulate the handle or the actuating lever by using his one hand, under the condition of gripping the fishing rod with the other hand. This difficulty in manipulation causes the fishing efficiency to be greatly reduced.